Sarkar

SARKAR
Released: July 1, 2005
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Writer: Manish Gupta
Lal's Rating: 4 Stars

The Nagre's are the new Mobsters in town.  They are a government in itself, but an honest one that holds everyone and any one accountable, if they do wrong. 
Its like the Indian Mafia, with Morals. 

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this movie.  Especially when people got killed, whom I never expected, yet knew that if they were bad, or corrupt that the Nagre's would eventually do them in. 

Sarkar, Directly translated as "Overlord" is about the Ultimate Lord of Mumbai.  The one person that the people love, and the government loves to hate. 

GRAVITY

GRAVITY: Drama/Thriller

October 4, 2013
91minutes

Director:

 Alfonso Cuaron

Writers:

 Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron

Actors:

 Sandra Bullock, George Clooney 

LALQ RATING: 10/10 MUST SEE!

We finally got around to watching this much talked about movie!  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney were two astronauts on a routine mission.  They soon realized that they were in peril when they get bombarded by flying shrapnel from a blast accidently created by the Soviets.  

The movie was hair raising to say the least,  and as I say, "fist-clenching" since that's what I end up doing.  Sandra Bullock performed tremendously.  I truly forgot she was an actress and I was pulled deep into the movie.  I really felt like I was watching a real life event.  

I watched the movie at home on regular television but I can only imagine what it must have felt like in the theatres.  I'm personally glad I didn't get to see it in Theatres.  I would have been petrified afterwards.  

George Clooney was lost in space and by the middle of the movie he was gone.  But he continued to be a guiding force for Sandra Bullock; almost like her guardian angel or her subconscious.  Even after she lost contact with him, he was still with her.  He pushed her to go on and she finally made it back to earth.  

I found my new love for earth after this movie.  I'll rather touch the face of death by a snake then be lost in space with no  one or nothing around.  

"Framed for Murder" a Lifetime Movie Network Movie
Created: 2007
Director: Douglas Jackson


LAL Q'S RATING: 4/10
As usual, a twisted movie about a relationship between two sisters.  One was older, and was always the more responsible one.  The other sister was younger and the one who was always getting into trouble.  Everyone felt sorry for the younger sister and doted on her.  The older sister started to despise her younger sister over the years.  


The older sister was also married to a very rich man, whom she did not love.  She had an affair, which we learn through the course of the movie, with her younger sister's husband.  Then at some point, she kills him and frames her sister for murder.  Its unclear why she kills her sister's husband.  It may be that she didn't love him anyway, or that she wanted him out of the way, and she wanted to frame his murder on her sister in order to fill out a bigger plan which was to kill her husband.  Her husband was worth a lot of money and there had to be someone who could be pinned on her husband's murder.  She set up her sister to be just such a person.  


So, her younger sister went to jail for killing her own husband.  After 8 years, the younger sister was released, and the older sister continued to build on her plan to kill her husband and frame her younger sister for it.  The older sister was now in love with the HandyMan and she thought of ways to kill her husband, and for her handyman to do the dirty work.  


The older sister made her younger sister to appear as though she was crazy and delusional.  She made it seem as if her sister was always fighting with her husband.  
Then, one day, the handyman knocked out the younger sister, killed the older sister's husband and brought the younger sister to the murder scene where he place a gun in the younger sister's hand.  


Eventually the younger sister's friends help her to get the older sister's confession on tape.  And that's the end of the movie.  The older sister escapes and the handyman gets shot.  


It was a thriller and a good movie, with twists and turns, but overall, it was not the best movie that lifetime had to offer.  :) 

"Fatal Reunion"
Release Date: 02/21/2005
Director: George Erschbamer
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Starring: Erika Eleniak, and David Millburn

Lal's Rating: 8/10

This movie is about a couple with two kids, who are in the throws of married life.  They start to have marital problems, and the wife decides that she wants more attention and support.  She reaches out to her High School crush.  This ends up being the mistake of her life. 

The story leads us to believe that the high school classmate has started to stalk the wife, but there is never any proof.  

Then, the police start to question the husband, putting doubt in our minds as viewers, but the wife still believes that her husband is innocent.  In the end, and this is the.............. 

******SPOILER ALERT!!!******

The killer ends up being a whole new character.  The old high friend turns out to be married, and he's married to a crazy woman, who has murdered in the past when she got into a jealous rage over her husband consorting with another woman.  

It was kind of obvious that the killer was the new character in the movie, as she finagled her way into the couple's life by acting as a lawyer of the high school friend, when he was accused of murder and was found innocent by a trial by jury.  

As usual Lifetime delivers movies that are both gripping and packed with emotional jargon.  I always enjoy these dramatic films.  

Dirty Picture

Director: Milan Luthria
Starring: Vidya Balan
2011
Genre: Foreign/Historical Drama

Movie based on the life of Silk Smitha.  (Born as Vijayalakshmi).  She lived from 1960 to 1996 and was found dead in her room after having committed suicide.  She was a seductive and controversial actress in her time.

The true, real life "Silk"

The movie did not delve into her life as a child, or depict a truth; that she got married and ran away.  Instead, the story focused on how her seductive dancing gained popularity and how the World in India reacted to her and ultimately led to her demise.

Vidya Balan, acting as "Silk"

I would have liked a little bit more realism and more detail surrounding her life, from her youth to her suicide, so that I could better understand her as a character.  Instead, I did not get a chance to know her at all..... I only found her dancing to be seductive and there were way too many seductive dances for my liking.  One or two less dances and more content would have been nice.

Vidya Balan acted very well.  I always enjoy her acting.  Her roles are of a strong woman character who stands up to the world and teaches us a lesson in life.  

Movie Title: "In God's Country"
Release Date: 2007
Actors: Kelly Rowan, Richard Burgi
Genre: Suspense/Drama

This is a truly sad movie to watch.
Its a story about how religion can and does exploit families and women of all ages.
The story is set in the 1990s in the Midwest, where polygamous families reside.  They are not doing anything against the law because they don't actually get married in the court or any government recognized traditional fashion.  Instead, they get married in their church; this is the way the work around the law.

The leaders formed a community based on fear of the outside world, and the leaders create a kind of "safe haven".  The women are taught to be fearful of anyone outside of their community and since they are brought up in only one way, this is all they know and trust, so it is very difficult to get out to the outside world, and see that things are done so differently.
This is not based on a true story, however there are true stories that are very similar.
The Blog: "Movies Based on True Stories" can show you more true stories that you can watch and see for yourself how close this story is to a true story.
The story has a happy ending, yet it is very true to life and bittersweet as well.  

"SEVEN POUNDS"

Movie Review

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writer: Grant Nieporte
Actors: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson
Opened: December 19, 2008
Screen Time: 123min
My Review: 3 Stars

We went to see the movie “Seven Pounds”, Starring Will Smith. It starred a well-to-do MIT graduate (aerospace engineer) who had it all… a beautiful fiancé, an amazing job for and a wonderful family.
They show him so preoccupied with his work all the time.

One one particular day, while he was going out to dinner with his fiancé, he was on his phone, speaking about work yet again. Suddenly, no realizing where he was going and so into his phone conversation, he went straight into oncoming traffic. His car overturned, causing a major accident which killed his fiancé.

The movie goes on to show how he poses as an IRS operative and finds 7 people to give a piece of his body/home to, as a form of redemption. Very moving and beautifully acted. As a movie watcher, you don't realize what he is doing, until it suddenly hits you with a shock.

Why did they pick the #7? Why not 23? Or 14? Or 8? Who knows? Lucky #7 I guess?

"THE GREAT DEBATERS"

Director: Denzel Washington
Writers: Robert Eisele (screenplay), Robert Eisele (story)
Actors: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Kimberly EliseRelease Date: December 25, 2007
LALQ RATING: 10

An amazing movie about the rise of African Americans in the United States and the formation of their place in the United States of America.

It tells a story of Melvin B. Tolson, Professor at Wiley College, in Texas in the 1930's, who inspires and challenges his debate team, consisting of one woman and three young men, who go on a winning streak. They become the first team to be invited by Harvard University to a debate. A first debate between Negros and Anglo-Saxon Americans.

DOUBT

DIRECTOR: JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY
WRITER: JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY
RELEASED: DECEMBER 25, 2008



CAST:
MERYL STREEP - SISTER ALOYSIUS BEAUVIER
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN - FATHER BRENDAN FLYNN
AMY ADAMS - SISTER JAMES
VIOLA DAVIS - MRS. MILLER


The movie was released December 25, 2008, Christmas Day. Obviously not by coincidence. What a time to feel DOUBT...
This movie was set in 1964, in a Catholic School in the Bronx. Looming in political unrest, this was the first school who took on a black student. The school was predominantly Italian and Irish.
The movie starts us off showing how horribly strict and brash Sister Aloysius is with everyone, including all of the students and staff. She has to answer to Father Brenden Flynn, yet, she seems as though she runs the school. Her disciplinarian mentality is the old way and old ideas are hard to change. Father Flynn is more open to change and wants the church to portray a more friendly aura. Most people in the school agree, yet Sister Aloysius is stubborn and wants to teach with the old concepts of discipline through FEAR.
THE REAL ACTORS


Sister James, a young nun and also a teacher at the school notices Father Flynn showing more affection to Donald Miller, the first black student at the school. As we learn later, the young black boy is being abused at home by his father and he was placed in a catholic school so that he could stay out of trouble until he graduates. Father Flynn protects him from bullying by the other children at the school. The protection which Father Flynn shows is taken to mean possibly more than a simple fatherly love for a son. Sister Aloysius, having a innate dislike for Father Flynn, wants to see more into Father Flynn's interest in the boy.
The movie goes on to show how Sister Aloysius tries to do everything in her power to remove Father Flynn from the school. And in the end, she succeeds. It is not very clear whether Father Flynn or Sister Aloysius is in the right.

Obviously, this is why the movie is called "DOUBT". It is incredibly irking to watch the entire movie and just not know the truth. There is such doubt, due to no real evidence to convict Father Flynn. It really tickles your brain.


Supremely acted by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

"FASHION"

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Kangna Ranaut, Arbaaz Khan, Harsh Chhaya, Madhur Bhandarkar, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Neil Nitin Mukesh
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Screenplay Writer: Madhur Bhandarkar, ajay monga, Anuradha Tiwari / Niranjan Iyengar
Story: Ajay monga



This is a movie along the same lines at the movie, "Page 3". "Page 3" was made years before, however.
This particular movie is about how a young girl tries to make it in hte world of models and super-models. She wants to reach her goal of becoming a supermodel. Initially, she gets her break by being humble, genuine adn good. But soon, she gets wrapped up in the world of sex, drugs and money. She thinks that she can get away with anything, and she believes that the modeling agency needs HER. But, she soon finds out that she is as replaceable as the model whom she replaced.
She eventually clears her head, leaves modelling, and returns as a new person.




MOVIE REVIEW:
The take away I got here was that it is important to dream. Dreams and aspirations are a part of life, however, the path that you take to get to that dream determines how much satisfaction you get and how you feel whe you reach your dream or goal. At any given time we all have choices. Those choices determine how you live your life and ultimately what the fiber of your life will be made of.
The key is to keep grounded and always to remember why you are where you are, and how you got there. Never forget your roots and keep a humble mindset. Humility and respect for all the people around you is very important to maintain.




Remember, it is easier to get to the top than to stay at the top. You may have to work hard to get to the top, but to continue to be successful, and to stay at the top for a long period of time; well, that is the challenge.
For most, it is too difficult.

"PAGE 3"

Page 3
Starring
Konkona Sen Sharma AS Madhavi
Boman Irani AS Deepak Suri
Tara Sharma AS Gayatri
Director : Madhur Bhandarkar



One of my dear friends, the author of http://rkitchen.blogspot.com recommended this to me.

The movie was a revelation into the inner lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and how they have no real connections in this life. Each relationship good or bad becomes about what they can draw out of each other. They have no real enemies and no real friends.

One journalist is the protagonist who is the eye through which we see the other characters of the movie. She first believes that her job is meaningful, but soon realizes as she digs deeper into her own associations, friendships and romances that she is not at all like the other actors, or the famous. She is a simple girl who wants her career to have meaning. So she starts writing for the criminal aspect of the journal. She gets in deeper than she can handle and finds out about the person responsible for funding the paper itself.
What she finds is disturbing to say the least. She wants this news to go to print but she soon finds out that no one, including her boss is willing to put their jobs on the line for the truth and for justice.

She utlimately gets fired and rehired on another paper as a columnist for the Rick and Famous, a job she hates.
But she soon finds comfort in knowing that she was meant to be bigger and better an that she was not like the people she danced around while on the job.

MOVIE REVIEW:

I thought it was a good movie, showing the glitz and glamour of the high life and ultimately shows us, the lay person and the middle class that we maybe "better" people, good people and that we should be happy to be just who we are.
It shows that some people's lives are so tied into how people perceive them. They believe in the materialistic aspect of life.

It asks the question, "Are these people really, truly "happy" with their lives and what they do?

The Protagonist is living her life by her own principles which is how she can be truly happy and it begs to ask us that same question. "Can all of us go beyond our materialistic world to reach a state of our own inner nirvana?" Can we all go on with our jobs, as she did and still be happy?